In office buildings, large open areas are often finished off to define an office environment configured for the specific needs of a business. This may be accomplished through combinations of different building systems such as raised floor systems, ceiling systems, wall panel systems, and desking or other furniture systems.
In typical offices, it is necessary to provide data communication systems and power distribution systems to route power and communications circuits throughout multiple workstation areas. One inventive power distribution system comprises modular electrical components which are readily connectable together in multiple configurations depending upon the specific environment in which the power system will be used. The modular components include a solid wire power distribution assembly which forms a solid wire bus, a receptacle and flexible connector cables wherein the system is generally disclosed in Published PCT Application Publication No. WO/2004/057716 A1, which is owned by the assignee hereof, namely, Haworth, Inc. The disclosure of this published PCT application is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a manufacturing process for manufacturing components of the afore-mentioned power distribution system, and is specifically directed to the manufacture of extruded power distribution assemblies (herein PDA's) and the insertion of multiple, lengths of conductor wire along the longitudinal length thereof. In such PDA's, multiple parallel bores are formed interiorly of the PDA casing or housing wherein such conductors are preferably inserted into the bores after the PDA extrusions are cut to length and plug ports are formed therein. These ports permit receptacles, connector cables and the like to be plugged into the extruded PDA's for engagement with the interior PDA conductors and the electrical circuits carried thereby.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.